A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to animal feeds, and in particular, to animal feeds made from protein-containing substances which can be of relatively high initial moisture content.
B. Problems in the Art
Most animal feeds have as a primary goal the provision of at least a minimum requirement of nutrition to sustain the animals to which it is fed. Cost is a critical factor, however. Therefore, there is a continual search for cost-effective animal feeds, not only to sustain animals, but in many cases and in particular for animals raised for human consumption, to cause enhanced growth and value.
A specific example illustrates this point. Fish have long been raised as a commodity for human consumption. Such activity has not been widespread, however. This may be changing. One reason fish farming has not become popular across the United States is the cost. Also, in many of the more northern climates, it is difficult to raise the fish on a continual basis, primarily because of cold and ice in the winter. Some fish breeds simply can not survive in more northern climates.
Attempts have been made to raise fish indoors. While this might solve the goal of raising fish year-round, it adds a level of cost which could preclude it. Buildings are needed and-expensive, as are water treatment systems for confined facilities. Heat and/or warm water must be supplied. The provision of heat can involve on the order of 15% to 20% of the cost of raising fish indoors in colder climates.
Notwithstanding the issue of providing sufficient heat, one way to reduce cost of raising fish would be to find a cheaper source of food for the fish. There are estimates that fish feed comprises around 40% to 50% of the cost of raising any fish commercially. Conventionally fish food can be purchased at many animal feed retailers and wholesalers, who sell a variety of manufacturers"" products. Examples are fish food pellets from such sources as Purina, Kent Feeds, and Arkat. Some of these feeds are made from corn or soybeans, because of the protein content of such commodity grains and because of their availability and relatively low cost.
A number of substances exist that are protein-laden and which are relatively abundant. Some of those substances are byproducts of processes and some are even treated as wastes. For example, there are current processes that utilize commodity grains such as corn and soybeans to extract components that are used for both food and non-food products. One of those processes extracts certain enzymes from corn or soybeans. The enzymes are used to make detergents. In that process, organisms are inserted into a mixture containing the corn or soybeans. A significant amount of water is also in the mixture. A byproduct of the process is a sludge of relatively high water or moisture content (e.g. on the order of 85%) with about 14%-18% solids. The sludge is very high in amino acids (protein) and has an amino acid profile that is conducive for growth in animals, including fish. However, the solids also may include substances which are not environmentally friendly or acceptable. The processor must therefore expend considerable resources to process the byproduct into a form that can be disposed of and/or pay significant amounts to dispose of or land-fill the byproduct.
As can be appreciated, such a processor not only has no use for the byproduct, it also must pay to get rid of it. Compliance with governmental regulations can also add to the cost of handling of the byproduct.
Genencor, Inc. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa practices such a process. Millions of pounds of the byproduct are created per year. Companies such as Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) and others practice similar processes. Thus, protein-carrying substances of substantial quantities, yet traditionally handled as waste products, exist. Costs for disposal of such waste products can be significant, for example, on the order of $20 per ton. If millions of pounds of waste product are created per year, the disposal bill can approach or even exceed one million dollars per year.
It has been found that the waste byproduct in sludge form can not simply be fed to fish. The fish do not get enough of it for full nutritional value. It can foul the water. Also, in liquid form, it does not digest well and/or makes cleaning of the water after excrement more difficult. There is therefore a real need in the art for a protein-based animal feed that is nutritionally effective and yet more cost-effective than current feeds. There also is a real need to find a practical application for some otherwise waste byproducts.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an animal feed and method of making the same which improves over problems and deficiencies in the state of the art.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention are to provide an animal feed and method for making the same which:
a) is relatively low cost and cost effective;
b) utilizes what otherwise would be sewered or land-filled;
c) is environmentally friendly;
d) can be tailored for use for fish and for other animals;
e)utilizes a relatively readily available and abundant source of protein;
f) can be based primarily on commodity grains or agricultural products and byproducts;
g) can improve growth and feeding efficiency for at least some animals;
h) is at least as digestible as common animal feeds;
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the accompanying specification and claims.
The present invention relates to an animal feed and a method of making animal feed. The method includes mixing a protein containing substance with a carrier. The protein containing substance is tailored to provide at least a substantial portion of the protein requirements for a given animal. It can be a commodity grain byproduct. The carrier can be a substance to which the protein containing substance adheres and which can take the form of or be manipulated into feed particles or pellets. The final mixture is dried to a relatively low moisture content.
The animal feed can include the protein containing substance in combination which a carrier. One carrier can be a natural particle called wheat middlings. Other carriers could include soybean meal, ground corn, corn gluten meal, corn grain, wheat, corn steep powder, white fibre byproduct of corn through milling processes, and sawdust. The protein containing substance could be a commodity grain byproduct such as the waste byproduct from the process used to extract enzymes from corn or soybeans.